So there is a potential job prospect in Madison WI. I may be fortunate enough that I could work remotely and fly in every month or so.
I have read that it’s 77 square miles surrounded by reality. It sounds pretty liberal.
Do any sigforum members live there? Is it a good place or not?

Really liberal, lots of college kids. Use to lay over there a lot, I first learned about this White privileged crap there years ago. They had white kids walking around town with white privilege written on their forehead. Outside of town might be better don’t know.

I was born there & my grandparents started Patti Music located downtown in 1948. My Uncle then ran Patti music until he retired. In the 60's U of WI rivaled Berkeley as the protest leader. Madison has become more conservative & the Badgers have become a real football team again. Very high property taxes (rate is 2.5 times of what I pay in Nashville) , 5.5% sales tax, & high income taxes (6.27% over $29,960 & 7.65% over $336,200). Maybe a current resident will give you a better insight.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Anush,

I'm a Wis. resident. Here is my explanation of Madison......liberal-liberal-liberal (Milwaukee is a close 2nd.)

I spent 16 years there and enjoyed it.
Good food & beer.
Good culture & arts.
Lots of outdoor activities.
The aforementioned comments on taxes & liberal politics are true.

Greetings to Anush. Tom Patti was a good man. I miss State Street.

I would generally suggest not wearing a MAGA cap.

Madison is a bastion of liberalism ala Berkley, Missoula, Austin etc. University town

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Originally posted by bettysnephew:

I would generally suggest not wearing a MAGA cap.

Agreed. It's time to switch to a KAG2020 cap (Keep America Great 2020).

I have one that I keep in the office; I try to remember to wear it to aggravate certain people.

Liberal as fuck. But if you could telecommute 3/4 time or more, anyone can stand a week there.

Okay, thanks for the info.

Yeah, remote working would be the necessity. I wouldn’t consider a move to a city that is that cold and miserable for three months, then humid in the summer, and a liberal hotbed. Plus we just moved to get away from that crap.

Thanks for all your replies. Sounds like it sucks, but can be tolerable for a week every four to six weeks.

Back in the day I traveled with the University of Illinois, filming their football games. The Big Ten conference actually had ten teams then and the University of Wisconsin had far and away the most beautiful campus. UW's leftism was renowned then too, I could only think what a waste.

I've lived in Wisconsin most of my life, and now work in Madison, but commute in from a small town an hour away. While yes, it's true that the majority of the town is annoyingly liberal, there are some conservatives there, too. Yesterday on the Beltline, I went by a jacked up pickup flying two HUGE American flags, and lots of Trump/MAGA stickers! Gave me a really nice smile!

It's really too bad that it's such a liberal hotbed; Madison is a gorgeous small city with several lakes in town, tons of great shopping, abounding cultural opportunities, a very strong job market, great food, etc. I don't mind the seasons, and the very extreme weather days aren't countless, so I get by.

I live there part time, and as a renter only peripherally involved in community, don't find the liberalism oppressive. Prevalent but not stifling. If or when Trump wins again, I expect a liberal meltdown nation wide, and naaaasty women to get much nastier. So living anywhere liberal will get more annoying after the 2020 election.

It is a clean and appears well run city, with good function of government services. Good pride in providing services by public and private employees.

The people of Wisconsin are frugal and practical and there doesn't seem to a lot of stupid, annoying, and expensive red tape. The people are friendly but reserved, not quite as quick to converse with strangers as in Missouri.

If you like lakes, winter, beer and sausages, it could be for you.

I lived in a small town 75 miles from Madison. Very conservative people and accepting of differences. Went to Madison to shop and for entertainment. I miss Wisconsin, but not the high taxes and winters. You can expect liberal attitudes in towns with large Universities. Ann Arbor is pretty much the same.

I have traveled to the area in the past for a previous employer when I worked as an Project Manager and Business Analyst for an ERP systems software company - definitely a very nice area. Enjoyed my time there on projects although its now been almost 10 years. Definitely on the liberal side then probably invasive or parasitic by now.

I then had the chance to travel back to the area for Epic about 5 years ago. Which iirc is now in Verona having relocated just outside Madison? I turned down the offer for the organization going to their system for where I am now, simply because I had not had the best experiences in IT field with healthcare systems and generally just didn't like it. The pay, opportunities and job security of being involved with Epic direct or indirect are very good though so there was that. One standout was the testing, which you have to do exceedingly well on to work with Epic or companies that use Epic - at least 5 years ago - it was definitely a stand out memory from that whole experience. I almost took the job simply because of all I went through to be hire able.

As a side note, Frank Lloyd Wright's Teliesin and House on the Rock are just a bit west of Madison and are a pretty good take in your free time.

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Greetings to Anush. Tom Patti was a good man. I miss State Street.

Thank you, I still have his Red Ryder BB gun with the compass in the stock. My grandfather passed it onto me when I was about 6 or 7.

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I wouldn’t consider a move to a city that is that cold and miserable for three months, then humid in the summer...

You should be here this week; blue skies, cool temperatures, but of course it isn't that way all of the time.

You don't have to get very far away from Madison to find lower property taxes and conservatives. First, get out of Madison, then maybe even get out of Dane County.

I guess that Madison is sort of like a zoo to me. You don't live in the zoo. You know what it's like and you just go there to be amused.

Definitely liberal but love visiting my son and his family there. Neat town.

It's Chicago/Illinois basically. The rest of the state is pretty conservative. Live outside of town and you are fine. Good gun laws. Open/concealed carry. NFA friendly. No waiting period on purchases. YMMV.